[Speedwell]

After 50 or so years of motoring, I have recently got my first Rio, 2017, 1.4. It drives nicely and there are lots of gadgets to amuse myself with but I suspect it needs a new battery. I have changed batteries before but I do not know what to expect if I disconnect all the electronic equipment. Does anybody here know what will need to be reset and how to do it ? I have done some online searching but have not found anything specific on the subject.
Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[iuygoig]

Nothing essential will be lost. It seems to depend no how long the battery is off for but you might lose:

Trip meters
Radio station settings

other assorted trivia like that,

It is unlikely (but not impossible) that your battery is failing after such a short time. Why do you believe it needs to be replaced? Have you tried charging it?

 

[Speedwell]

Thanks for your reply. It surprises me as well at, 3 years old, but it's not holding charge as it should. It's down to about 12.2 volts a week after charging. I started checking when the automatic stop/start became unreliable. It doesn't get much use, especially in these corona virus days, or I probably would not have noticed.

 

[iuygoig]

Prolonged periods of non use has given rise to many battery related issues on here. It would be worth investing in a conditioning charger (Ctek seem to be well regarded) and letting it recondition the battery. It will charge, relax, charge, relax etc. the battery, each time achieving a higher charged voltage and it might take some time to be happy. It wlll then revert to trickle charging so it can be left on for extended periods with safety.

 

[Indalo]

Welcome to the forum 'Speedwell'.

It surprises me too and I'm interested to know which type of charger you used. Traditional trickle chargers are ok to get the battery charge up to where it should be but the modern variety such as the CTEK MXS 5.0 really do a great job of restoring an ageing battery to full health. The clever tech in such chargers adds an element of conditioning in the process used and that can really make a difference.

If you have used a CTEK or similar, ignore my comment and if you are able to test the output from the alternator, particularly under load, you may find that the battery itself is not the problem. I'm presuming here that you have nothing draining battery energy when the ignition is switched off and the car is locked - always worth checking!

 

[Indalo]

Further to my last, your concerns about losing any settings while swapping one battery for another can be allayed by using a plug-in memory saver device like this Gunson model. Other types are readily available but I can vouch for the efficacy of this model and it saves needing to have another battery close by and crocodile clip connectors.

That said, I have swapped literally hundreds of batteries without using a memory saver and have never encountered any problems other than losing trip meter/fuel economy readings on a few occasions.

 

[Speedwell]

Thank you both for your replies. My main battery charger is Ring 212, not as advanced as the CTEKs, it does charge & float charge but no restoring cycle. I can try repeated charging and I can try a similarly spec'd Halfords charger, which gives a slightly higher voltage.
I have no idea of the car's history, having only just bought it but, as it has only done 6700 miles in 3 years, it is reasonable to think it may well have stood unused for long periods of time.
There are no current drains, that I know of, apart from keeping its electronics active.
I have no good way of checking the alternator output, but it's giving 14+ volts at the battery on fast idle, with just a marginal drop with the headlights on.
Indalo, I like the look of that memory saver. I assume it is a transformer/rectifier that feeds 12 volts in through the car's 12v outlet.
Final point, the handbook says the battery should not be charged with the cables connected. Can you think why this should be so ? I have to admit to ignoring it so far.

 

[iuygoig]

There is no problem with charging a battery using a domestic charger while the battery is still connected to the car. If you think about it that is exactly what the alternator does. Just remember to make the connections the correct way round, check again and then turn the charger on. When finished turn the charger off and leave it for a few minutes before disconnecting.

It would seem that the alternator is working just fine.

I do not think repeated charging with an ordinary charger will help - the conditioning charger is definitely the way to go. This is a lot cheaper than a new battery and has a pretty good chance of restoring the battery to good health. If you still find you need to replace the battery then at least you will now have the means to keep it tip top.

 

[Speedwell]

Thanks again for your reply. Your thoughts about charging are the same as mine.

 

[Speedwell]

I thought I had better finish this sad tale, in case any Kia newbies like myself read it.
Tempted by a discount offer, I bought a new battery. I also bought a memory saver. The battery change went smoothly, except for working out how to tighten the strange positive terminal. No memories were lost. The sad part is that, once I had the battery off, It held its charge perfectly and the new one lost charge. Clearly there is significant current flow, when everything is turned off but I have yet to quantify how much and where it's going to.